So you got a bad online review. Now what? I’ve written a couple of posts in the past about how to respond appropriately to a negative online review.

Now I’m inspired by a recent ClubZero post on the subject to provide you with the exact steps in crafting your response:

Respond quickly. As soon as you are alerted to the presence of a negative online review, respond immediately. Thank them for their business, for bringing this to your attention and mention any specifics you are taking to address their issue.

Resolve the problem. If you can find an email address for the reviewer, email them directly, If not, respond in the comment thread and ask them to send you their email address or phone number so you can personally address their issue with them. Then ask them what you can do to resolve the problem and work with them to find a solution. Even if the issue seems unreasonable to you, making them a satisfied client will pay off for you down the road.

Request an updated review. Once the problem has been resolved to the reviewer’s satisfaction, ask them if they would consider deleting their original post or updating it to reflect that the issue has been resolved. This will demonstrate to other readers that you have acted to address and resolve issues proactively.

Set alerts. If you have a business page on Yelp, you can sign up to have the site notify you whenever a new review is posted. Set an alert for the name of your firm and each attorney on Google Alerts as well.